Welcome to our June newsletter. This is the companion to our online database, The Best Free Poetry Contests. It alerts you to upcoming contests and important contest changes, highlights quality resources for writers, and announces achievements and great poems by our readers.
Lost one of our newsletters? Formatting doesn't look right? Not to worry. All our recent newsletters are posted online at http://www.winningwriters.com/news
Winning Writers offers condolences to the family of Judith Anne Labriola, who passed away on February 27, 2010. Ms. Labriola was the sponsor of the long-running Euphoria Poetry Contest, which has now been discontinued. Read her obituary in the Orlando Sentinel.
______________________
FEATURED SPONSOR'S MESSAGE
14th Annual Robert Frost Foundation Annual Poetry Award Postmark/Email Submission Deadline: September 15 The Robert Frost Foundation welcomes poems in the spirit of Robert Frost for its 14th Annual Award. The winner will receive $1,000 and an invitation to present the winning poem this fall at the Frost Festival located at the Lawrence Public Library in Lawrence, Massachusetts, the library in which Frost first explored the traditions of English and Irish poetry.
Please submit two copies of each poem, one copy with contact information (name, address, phone number, email address) and one copy free of all identifying information. Reading fees are $10 per poem (send fees via regular mail, please). Make your check payable to The Robert Frost Foundation. Mail your entry to: The Robert Frost Foundation, Attn: Poetry Award, Lawrence Public Library - 3rd Floor, 51 Lawrence Street, Lawrence, MA 01841. Include a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) or an email address if you'd like to receive the contest results. Email submissions are accepted at frostfoundation@comcast.net if you send your entry fee by regular mail.
You may submit up to three poems of no more than three pages each. Both published and unpublished works are accepted. See the complete contest guidelines at www.frostfoundation.org and more on last year's winners at frostawards.blogspot.com.
Please enjoy "About Connecticut" by George Drew, which received an honorable mention in our 2002 competition.
About Connecticut
by George Drew
Qui Transtulit Sustinet
(Again, To Gray Jacobik)
Of all the states of the original Republic
it's the one I've been in least,
the one I know least about. Until you,
I've known only one person who lived there,
a fine man with a fine Polish name,
Fedorowicz—a fine husband, a fine father,
and a fine friend. I loved him,
and I love the memory of having loved him,
and the way the memory keeps love alive.
Say it: Con-nec-ti-cut. Quinnehtukgut.
Always, as far back as I can remember
being able to speak, it has been one
of those words from Hell. Early on,
night after night I'd lie in the dark
trying to say it correctly, rolling the whole
insufferable sequence of its four syllables
around and around until my tongue stiffened
with incompetence and every syllable slurred.
A word that ranked right up there with vegetable,
for my betrayed and bitter tongue it was
a phonetic powder keg, a booby trap
of epic proportions. Stress wasn't the problem:
four staccato syllables, two perfect iambs.
Rather, at its core it had a kind of exotic nuance
only an indigenous, home-grown word
can muster. Oh, how I loved it! Even
on my last visit in the dead of winter,
when we lowered Al Fedorowicz's ashes
through dirt and rock and under the bruise
that was the morning sky surrendered him
to the flint of its embrace I cherished it
for its inscrutable appeal. And even more,
I loved the way I and so many others
misspelled it with two t's at the end,
or with one n in the middle, or most of all,
with that incomparable c omitted.
I loved the way the final t trailed off
into nothing, the way it thinned like vapor
from a jet that was headed west, away
from the long tidal river, away
from the original Republic—from
the original shining sea, from me and thee.
______________________
CONTESTS HOSTED AT WINNING WRITERS & OPEN NOW
Last Call! Margaret Reid Poetry Contest for Traditional Verse Postmark Deadline: June 30
Now in its seventh year, this contest seeks poetry in traditional verse forms such as sonnets and free verse. Both published and unpublished poems are welcome. Prizes of $3,000, $1,000, $400 and $250 will be awarded, plus six Most Highly Commended Awards of $150 each. Submit poems of any length. The entry fee is $7 for every 25 lines you submit. Submit online or by mail. This contest is sponsored by Tom Howard Books and assisted by Winning Writers. Judges: John H. Reid and Dee C. Konrad. See the complete guidelines and past winners.
Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest Postmark Deadline: September 30
Now in its eighth year, this contest seeks poems in any style, theme or genre. Both published and unpublished poems are welcome. Prizes of $3,000, $1,000, $400 and $250 will be awarded, plus six Most Highly Commended Awards of $150 each. Submit poems of any length. The entry fee is $7 for every 25 lines you submit. Submit online or by mail. Early submission encouraged. This contest is sponsored by Tom Howard Books and assisted by Winning Writers. Judges: John H. Reid and Dee C. Konrad. See the complete guidelines and past winners.
______________________
RECENT HONORS FOR OUR NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS
Winning Writers editor Jendi Reiter was awarded a Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship in Poetry. Her application packet included selections from her poetry chapbooks Swallow (Amsterdam Press, 2009) and Barbie at 50 (Cervena Barva Press, forthcoming in 2010). Visit her profile page on the MCC website here. The fellowship program awarded 21 unrestricted grants of $7,500 to creative artists in the genres of poetry, fiction/nonfiction, and choreography. MCC Artist Fellowships are awards granted in specific artistic disciplines on a biennial cycle. Applications are accepted from any artist who lives and works in Massachusetts. Next year, fellowships will be awarded in crafts, film and video, music composition, photography, playwriting, and sculpture/installation. The deadline generally falls in January.
Congratulations to Diane De Pisa. Her poem "Bird Tracks: A Pantoum" won the Poetry Society of America's Louis Hammer Memorial Award for a surreal poem, presented at the annual PSA Awards ceremony in New York on April 1, 2010. She kindly shares it with us below. This award category offered a $250 prize. The most recent submission period for the PSA Awards was October 1-December 22. In other news, De Pisa's story "Transformations" received an honorable mention in the 2010 E.M. Koeppel Short Fiction Award from Writecorner Press. The most recent submission period for this contest, offering a top prize of $1,100 and web publication, was October 1-April 30.
Congratulations to Ed Frankel. His poem "Smiley Comes in From the Cold" won the $1,000 first prize in the 2010 Little Red Tree International Poetry Prize. Read this poem on Little Red Tree's new blog. Newsletter subscribers Simon Peter Eggertsen, Janet Ireland Trail, Kaimana Wolff, John Laue, and Ellen LaFleche also received runner-up prizes. Little Red Tree is an independent small publisher in Connecticut whose motto is "Delight, entertain and educate". The most recent deadline was March 31.
Congratulations to Verna Cole Mitchell and Gayle Portnow. Mitchell's poem "Snapshots from a Teacher's Album" won second prize and Portnow's poem "Consolation" won third prize in the Spring 2010 Lucidity Poetry Journal Clarity Awards and was accepted for publication. This twice-yearly free contest offers prizes up to $100 for poems in any form dealing with people and interpersonal relationships. The next deadline will be October 31.
Congratulations to Patricia Ash. Her short story "Sidruthain and the Boy" won second prize in the 2010 Chistell Writing Contest. This free contest offers prizes up to $100 for poetry and short fiction by writers aged 16+ who have never been published in a major publication. The most recent deadline was February 28. Ms. Ash writes, "Thought you'd like to know, since you publish so many great success stories in the newsletter. I love your free newsletter. Please continue to be so awesomely useful."
Congratulations to Joan Gelfand. She was a winner in San Francisco's city-wide Poets Eleven competition, sponsored by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library. Three new poems ("The Ferlinghetti School of Poetics", "Cafe", and "5:50 AM") were published in an anthology edited by Jack Hirschman, former Poet Laureate of San Francisco. In addition, she was awarded a Poets & Writers grant for a reading on June 3 at the Wayne County Public Library in Detroit. Upcoming work will be published in Ambush #1 and the DuPage Valley Review.
Congratulations to Katerina Stoykova-Klemer. This Bulgarian-born author's bilingual poetry collection, The Air around the Butterfly (Fakel Express, 2009), received the 2010 Pencho's Oak Literary Award for a first book. The award is given yearly to recognize literary contributions to contemporary Bulgarian culture. Visit her website for book purchasing information and sample poems.
RECENT HONORS FOR POETRY CONTEST INSIDER SUBSCRIBERS
Congratulations to Liz Davies. Her poem "The Changing Moon" was shortlisted for the prize in the over-18 category of the Luna Poetry Competition. This prize for poems about the moon was sponsored by the Keats-Shelley Memorial Association in conjunction with the London International Fine Art Fair's exhibit of "Luna", a painting by the Pre-Raphaelite artist Anna Lea Merritt (1844-1930), which was inspired by the poem "The Moon" by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Winners received copies of Shelley's poetry and a case of champagne (adults) or 100 pounds and theater tickets (youth). The deadline was June 1.
RECENT PUBLICATION CREDITS FOR OUR SUBSCRIBERS Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé has recently been published in Pindeldyboz ("Two Questions Between the Concretists and Color Field Painting"), Nervous Breakdown ("Antediluvian Kural on Twitter"), and Mascara Literary Review ("hsuan tsang before the taklamakan desert"). Two of his stories also appeared in PANK ("Prêt-à-Porter", "The Martian Martian Poet and Green Groupie"), with a reading recorded by Shermaine Yeo and interview conducted by J. Bradley. An excerpt of his poem "murmur, the making of it" appeared in Hype's 30th issue, in a fashion spread designed and styled by Lukas Neo.
Sally Kosmalski's poems "Alina", "Uncharted Seas", and "Alight Next to Me" were published in the online journal The Pink Chameleon.
Susan Tepper's flash fiction "The Fall of Love", a modern twist on the myth of Leda and the Swan, was published at The Velvet Chamber, an online journal/blog that publishes revisioned, contemporary feminist fairy tales and myths. In addition, Tepper's flash fiction "Floater" was published on Metazen, a webzine of absurdist and offbeat writing.
______________________
TRY POETRY CONTEST INSIDER
If you enjoy using The Best Free Poetry Contests, consider upgrading to Poetry Contest Insider. The Best Free Poetry Contests profiles the 150 or so poetry contests that are free to enter. With your Poetry Contest Insider subscription, you'll get access to all of our 750+ poetry contest profiles, plus over 300 of the best prose contests. Contest rules, addresses and deadlines change constantly. We update Poetry Contest Insider nearly every day to stay on top of them. Search and sort contests by deadline, prize, fee, recommendation level and more. Access to Poetry Contest Insider is just $9.95 per quarter, with a free 10-day trial at the start. Cancel at any time.
Most contests charge entry fees. You can easily spend hundreds of dollars and many hours entering these contests each year. Don't waste your time or money. Out of hundreds of contests, there might only be two or three dozen that are especially appropriate for your work. We help you find them fast. Interviews and links to award-winning entries help you refine your craft. Learn more about Poetry Contest Insider.
"Your website is invaluable: definitely the best around. I have benefited greatly from the database of contests. Thank you and keep up the fantastic work!... Last year I received first prize in both the Dorothy Prizes and the Room of One's Own poetry competition—both of which I learned of through your database." Vicki Duke, Alberta, Canada
Here is a summary of upcoming free poetry contests. Click the contest names to be taken directly to their profiles (you may be asked to login on your first click of the day). You may also view the profiles by logging in to The Best Free Poetry Contests here and clicking the Find Free Contests link to search for contests by name.
Winning Writers gathers contest information from a wide variety of sources including publishers' press releases, online link directories, Poets & Writers Magazine, and e-newsletters such as TOTAL FundsforWriters, The Practicing Writer, and CRWROPPS. We encourage readers to explore these useful resources, and let us know about worthwhile contests we may have missed.
6/24:Utah Arts Council Original Writing Competition ++ Formerly June 25
Recommended free contest for Utah residents offers prizes up to $1,000 for unpublished full-length manuscripts of poetry, novels, general nonfiction and juvenile literature, plus smaller awards for individual poems, stories and essays. Manuscript prizes are for authors with no published books in the genre they are entering; other prizes are open to all.
6/25:Costa Book Awards +++ Entries must be received by this date; formerly June 24
Highly recommended free contest offers a top prize of 25,000 pounds, plus prizes of 5,000 pounds in each genre, for books first published in the UK or Ireland by authors who have lived in the UK or Ireland for at least six months of each of the preceding three years. Awards given in the genres of poetry, novel, first novel, biography, and children's literature. Books must have been published between November 1 of the previous year and October 31 of the current year. Must be submitted by publisher.
6/30:Ekphrasis Editor's Award +
Neutral free contest offers $500 for the best poems published in Ekphrasis, a venerable literary journal specializing in poems about other works of art. Submit 3-5 poems as part of the regular submission process. All poems published in the journal during the calendar year are considered for the award. No simultaneous submissions, but previously published poems are eligible.
6/30:Frederik van Eeden Poetry Competition + Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest offers 100 pounds and online publication for a poem up to 30 lines. Contest sponsor London-based Holland Park Press Ltd. publishes literary fiction and poetry and places special emphasis on bringing the work of Dutch authors to the English-language market. Launched in 2010 to celebrate the 150th birthday of Frederik van Eeden (1860-1932), the contest seeks poems inspired by a quote from his novel Hedwig's Journey. Enter by email only. This will probably be a one-time contest for 2010.
6/30:John Glassco Translation Prize +
Neutral free contest offers C$1,000 for an author's first book-length translation into French or English, published in Canada during the previous calendar year; work may be poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or children's book (all genres compete together). Contest is open to Canadian citizens or landed immigrants.
7/1:Comment Poetry Contest + Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest offers C$100 for poetry on an annual theme. Enter by email. The mission of Comment Magazine is "to build a Christian intellectual, artistic, and culture-making community animated by the gospel: serving the people of God seeking the shalom of our cities (Jeremiah 29)." It is published by Cardus, a Christian think tank based in Ontario. The 2010 contest is for sonnets that are a 21st-century response to Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ozymandias". Editors say, "Imagine the poem afresh for university students 2010-11."
7/4:Ishar Singh Poetry Contest + Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest for students in grades 1-12 offers top prize of C$100 in each of 5 age categories. Send 5 copies of a 1-page poem, one copy with contact information and the others anonymous. Themes change annually. 2010 contest is open theme.
7/25:GLCA New Writers Awards ++
Recommended free contest offers a reading tour of 12 midwestern colleges, with a $500 honorarium per visit, for the author of a book of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction that is the author's first published book in that genre. One winner in each category. Publisher should submit 4 copies of book along with publicity material. Book must have been published in the US or Canada between spring 2009 and spring 2010. Selection process favors recipients of major first-book awards.
7/30:FIL Literature Prize in Romance Languages +++ Entries must be received by this date; formerly June 30
Highly recommended free contest offers $150,000 lifetime achievement award (by nomination only) for a writer whose work is in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Galician, Catalan, Basque French, or Romanian. This is one of several awards sponsored by the Guadalajara International Book Fair. Formerly known as the Juan Rulfo Latin American and Caribbean Literary Award, changed name in 2009.
7/30:Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Literature ++ Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest offers $25,000 fellowship for foreign-born writers aged 38 or under who are citizens or legal residents of the US. Enter online only. Poets, novelists, short fiction writers, and creative essayists are eligible. All genres compete together. See website for application form and required materials. The Vilcek Foundation honors and supports foreign-born scientists and artists who have made outstanding contributions to society in the United States.
7/31:Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award +++
Highly recommended free contest for unpublished poems by authors aged 11-17 offers free books, anthology publication, and other prizes. Online entries accepted.
7/31:Jerwood Aldeburgh First Collection Prize +++ Entries must be received by this date
Highly recommended free contest offers 3,000 pounds and a reading at the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival in Suffolk for the best first full-length collection of poetry published in Great Britain or Ireland since August 1 of the preceding year. Either publisher or author may submit 3 bound or proof copies of the book with a note indicating the date of publication. Include cover letter with contact information.
7/31:Linda Bruckheimer Series in Kentucky Literature ++ Don't enter before July 1
Recommended free contest offers publication by Sarabande Books, a high-quality literary press, for a manuscript of poetry, fiction, or essays (all genres compete together) about Kentucky or by Kentucky authors. Winner must agree to travel to readings within the state. You are eligible if you were born in Kentucky or have lived there for at least two years, or your book is set in or about Kentucky. Poetry manuscripts should be 48-100 single-spaced pages, prose manuscripts 150-250 double-spaced pages. No scholarly works, children's literature, or genre fiction.
Login to The Best Free Poetry Contests now to view these and all our profiles of free contests. You can browse contests by deadline date, name, recommendation level, and more.
Key to Ratings
Highly Recommended: +++
Recommended: ++
Neutral: +
All deadlines are postmark deadlines unless otherwise specified.
"I'm one of those obscure writers who faithfully reads your wonderful emails with coffee cup in hand desperately seeking inspiration from anything, anywhere and anyone who will offer it, and I have to say you really ROCK!"
Come see why FundsforWriters readers are loyal, satisfied and enthusiastic. Four newsletters, website resources, ebooks, consults and motivational material to make you fall in love with writing all over again. Chosen by Writer's Digest for 101 Best Websites for Writers for the past ten years.
Greetings! I am a well-published and well-connected author, editor and writing coach who is also a part-time Professor of Journalism at New York University. I write a weekly blog column for BarnesandNoble.com in which I interview famous as well as mid-career and newbie authors. My book for writers, Bang the Keys (Penguin, 2009), includes a foreword by New York Times staff writer John Leland.
On Editing
A manuscript is like a fine piece of music. Pitch and tone are essential, as well as the overall impact of the composition. Individual notes are key and must be attended to. I aim to be your ideal reader, the one who really "gets" you and expects and desires your best story, and your strongest storytelling skills. Whether writing up an in-depth analysis of your work, doing a thorough line edit, or both, I treat your work like a child, whom I have been honored with the gift of Godmothering. Like you, my focus will be on removing the obstacles from your child's life, and helping that child to grow and thrive in the real world, in keeping with his or her true nature. My website will assure you of my experience, connections and general street cred! www.bangthekeys.com
No time to write AND make submissions? Try Writer's Relief!
Writer's Relief (est. 1994) is an author's submission service. We help writers make targeted, professional submissions to literary agents and editors (in the genres of novels, poetry, short creative prose, and nonfiction books).
You don't have to tackle the submission process alone! We have a service for every budget. You can get 25+ submissions to the best-suited agents/editors within three days.
We've been maintaining a detailed database of literary agents and editors, including many that are actively reading during the spring and summer months. Our clients include writers of all levels—from major literary award winners/nominees to new writers with strong voices. To learn more about our clientele, visit our website.
NO TIME TO WRITE? Services include: targeting the best-suited agents/editors, composing cover/query letters with client approval, proofreading and formatting submissions, preparing mailing labels, providing an electronic submission report, individually addressing print cover/query letters, tracking all submissions including any editorial comments, providing a personal submission strategist for consulting, and more.
NOTE: Writers who wish to regularly submit are encouraged to apply to join our invitation-only Full Service program. Submission guidelines are available on our website. Consideration is free.
Last Call! Autumn House Poetry and Fiction Contests Postmark Deadline: June 30
The winners will receive book publication, a $1,000 advance against royalties, and a $1,500 travel grant to participate in the 2010 Autumn House Master
Authors Series in Pittsburgh.
We ask that all submissions from authors new to Autumn House come through one of our annual contests. All finalists will be considered for publication. The final judge for the Poetry Prize is Claudia Emerson; the final judge for
fiction is Sharon Dilworth.
All poetry manuscripts 50-80 pages and all fiction manuscripts 200-300 pages are eligible. If you wish to be informed of the results of the competition, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE). Autumn House Press assumes no responsibility for lost or damaged manuscripts.
All entries must be clearly marked "Poetry Prize" or "Fiction Prize" on the outside envelope. $25 handling fee (check or money order) must be enclosed.
MANUSCRIPTS WILL NOT BE RETURNED.
Send manuscript and $25 fee to:
Autumn House Press
P.O. Box 60100
Pittsburgh, PA 15211
Learn more about the contests at our website, and please enjoy this poem from No Sweeter Fat by Nancy Pagh, the winning manuscript in the 2006 Autumn House Poetry Contest:
Mercury
by Nancy Pagh
This morning I think about the men I've loved
so differently, about the one's salty hands
and another who held his tongue
to the edge of his own lips at every moment
of concentration. And the one with all the cats,
who appeared only to love cats and nobody
else. And I think about the cats I've loved
so differently. The blue Russian who jumped
from a sidewalk into my arms the first time we met.
The Siamese who suckled any soft bit of me
he could draw into his hot pink mouth.
And this one—with loose and gorgeous belly
all flab and sunshine watching me now,
watching me try the same poem again and again:
thinking each time I am writing something new
the way we think each love is new
when really it's the same love again and again
squirting sideways between our fingers, rolling over
a tabletop, beads of mercury breaking and rejoining,
traveling the floorboards to settle and tremble
and wait in the cracks. There is no end to the matter
of love, no dissolution—and this is the poem
I'll write again tomorrow. Although you may read it
so differently, I think we all bear the same message
of enduring changing love
Last Call! Snake Nation Press: Violet Reed Haas Prize for Poetry Postmark Deadline: June 30
Now in its twentieth year, Snake Nation Press announces the 2010 Violet Reed Haas Prize for Poetry:
• $1,000 prize and publication
• $25 entry fee must accompany the manuscript
• 50-75 page manuscript; previously published poems eligible
Reduced fee for students and those aged 65 or older—just $15 per entry.
Please mail your entry and fee to:
Snake Nation Press
Attn: Poetry Contest
2920 North Oak Street
Valdosta, GA 31602
Snake Nation Press provides an informative, non-threatening venue for writers to submit their work in the midst of an often chaotically diverse publishing world. Over the twenty-year history of the Press, the staff and volunteers have found great satisfaction in forging personalized editorial relationships with both emerging and established writers. The Snake is committed to keeping an honest and open dialogue with authors and to furthering the literary arts on a local and global scale. Many hours of volunteer labor and the electronic resources of the Web have allowed a small press to help present many new literary voices to the world-wide community.
The editors of Snake Nation Press look for manuscripts that concretely render the writer's actual and imaginative experiences. We publish writing that both newly interprets life in its everyday reality and that opens the reader's eyes to internal landscapes that have not yet been envisioned. We believe that good writing fortifies a belief in the value of human life and effort, but above all the work must connect intuition and experience to cast a spell of surprised recognition that shocks the reader with what was thought to be familiar.
Please enjoy "Practically Political" by Lucas Carpenter, to be published in Issue 23 of Snake Nation Review.
Practically Political
by Lucas Carpenter
I saw one for the first time this morning, sitting
With his back against the wall of my Bank of America,
A torn piece of brown cardboard folded over in front of him
Saying "Iraq Veteran" and beside it a Tupperware bowl
Holding three dog-eared dollars and greasy change. He
Stared at me and I held his gaze, unwilling to surrender
My autonomy in a waste of shame. He looked sound on the surface
But it's hard to tell with computer chip bionics and fake flesh.
I threw in a buck, hoping to feel better and escape his steadfast eyes,
To sign that his fate is no fault of mine, that it was all politics
And I was on the other side, the right one, the one that lost.
But he never wavered and I had to look away,
Unwilling to say more than I've muttered here,
Because I don't want to be blamed for something I didn't do.
Also at Snake Nation Press: Serena McDonald Kennedy Award Postmark Deadline: July 31 - Closing Next Month
Submit a novella of up to 50,000 words or a manuscript of short stories up to 200 pages long. Fiction and nonfiction accepted. Any well-written manuscript on any topic will be considered. Previously published works may be entered. An entry fee of $25 must accompany the submission. Winner receives $1,000 award and publication.
Please mail your entry and fee to:
Snake Nation Press
Attn: Serena McDonald Kennedy Award
2920 North Oak Street
Valdosta, GA 31602
The Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Literature (no fee) Postmark Deadline: July 30 The Vilcek Foundation shall award a prize of $25,000 to a foreign-born writer who demonstrates outstanding early achievement. In addition, four finalists will receive awards of $5,000 each. There is no fee to enter. Four categories of writers are eligible to apply:
Poets
Novelists
Short Fiction Writers
Short Creative Nonfiction Writers
ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible for The Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in the Arts and Humanities, applicants must meet all of the criteria listed below.
Applicant must have been born outside the United States.
Applicant must not be more than 38 years old as of December 31, 2010 (born on or after January 1, 1972).
Applicant must be a naturalized citizen or permanent resident (green card holder) of the United States.
Applicant must intend to pursue a professional career in the United States.
Applicant must be the individual who has authored the submitted work.
SELECTION PROCESS
A panel of distinguished members of the literary community will evaluate each application based on its quality, the level of creativity, clarity of vision, impact and the individual's ability to present his/her work in a professional manner.
The prize winner selected by the jury will be a candidate whose work best exemplifies the characteristics indicated above. Additionally, the jury will identify four finalists, each of whom will receive an award of $5,000. Recommendations of the jury will be submitted to the Vilcek Foundation's Board of Directors for final approval.
The winner will be notified in November 2010 and will be invited to attend an awards ceremony in New York City in the spring of 2011. Travel expenses and accommodations will be covered by The Vilcek Foundation.
Whiting Writers' Award-Winner Rick Rofihe (FATHER MUST, Farrar, Straus & Giroux) is pleased to be an advisor to the 2011 Vilcek Literature Prizes.
Tupelo Press July Open-Submission Period for Poetry Submission Period: July 1-July 31 (postmark dates)
How did these sensational poets (and many others) come to light at Tupelo Press?
Karen An-hwei Lee, Ardor
Michael Chitwood, Spill and Poor-Mouth Jubilee
Theodore Deppe, Orpheus on the Red Line
Geri Doran, Sanderlings
Ellen Doré Watson, This Sharpening and Dogged Hearts
Rebecca Dunham, The Flight Cage
Mark Gaba, Have
Mark Halliday, Keep This Forever
Angela Shaw, The Beginning of the Fields
Through the annual Tupelo Press July Open Reading Period!
A SHOWCASE, NOT A CONTEST
July 1-July 31, 2010
Throughout July, Tupelo Press will hold open submissions for book-length poetry collections (48–90 pages). Submissions are accepted from anyone writing in the English language, whether in the United States or abroad. We are looking for manuscripts we love and want to publish. Historically, Tupelo Press has given contracts to between three and five poetry manuscripts submitted each July. All manuscripts will be read and all decisions made by the editors of Tupelo Press. You are welcome to send manuscripts to the July open submission period even if you have already entered other Tupelo contests throughout the year.
Tupelo Press is now accepting electronic submissions. To submit your manuscript electronically and to review the complete guidelines, please visit our website:
You may also send your manuscript via postal mail. Please include a $25 reading fee, payable to Tupelo Press, a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) for notification, as well as a self-addressed stamped postcard if you would like acknowledgment of receipt of your manuscript. Manuscripts will not be returned. You may include an acknowledgments page, listing previously published poems. Make sure that your cover page includes the title, your name and contact information, including address, phone number and email address.
Send your manuscript to:
Open Submissions / Tupelo Press
P.O. Box 1767
North Adams, MA 01247
Here is a poem from Ellen Doré Watson, who first came to Tupelo through the open reading period. This is from her book Dogged Hearts, out this summer:
Lew's Late Love
by Ellen Doré Watson
The fourth month flowers waxy and small.
Grief is like sleeping in water, he thinks. Like
throwing light onto the smallest stone. It is
like scolding a doorjamb for crushing a finger
in third grade. Her finger. Now in the ground.
The same one she fractured flying off a treadmill
the day her first husband walked away. Why
these vignettes that long preceded him, now,
his ninety-first day without her? Long week after
week in a world now narrow. A runner instead
of a proper rug. If he could stand her there, across
the disbelieving room, he'd ask, all sheepish, how
she was doing without hunger. He can hear her
smile: "Look at the lake. Tell me I can't have it."
Rattle Poetry Prize Postmark Deadline: August 1
The annual Rattle Poetry Prize offers $5,000 for a single poem, plus ten honorable mentions of $100 each. The competition, now in its fifth year, is designed to be as writer-friendly as possible:
The first prize is one of the largest in the world for a single, unpublished poem.
Eleven poets receive prize money and publication in the winter issue of Rattle magazine.
Additional poems are frequently offered publication as well. In 2009, Rattle published 22 poems that had been submitted to the contest.
Winners are announced just six weeks after the deadline, on September 15th each year, with no delays.
The contest is judged in a blind review by the editors, to ensure a fair and consistent selection, and the editors personally read every poem submitted.
The entry fee is simply a one-year subscription to the magazine ($18 for two issues).
Entries are accepted by email or hard copy. For full guidelines, or to read the winning poems from previous years, visit our website at www.rattle.com.
To the Young Man Who Cried Out, "What Were You Thinking?" When I Backed into His Car
by Lynne Knight
I was thinking No. No, oh no. Not one more thing.
I was thinking my mother, who sat rigid
in the passenger seat crying, How terrible!
as if we had hit a child not your front bumper,
would drive me mad, and then there would be
two of us mad, mother and daughter, and things
would be easier, they said things would be easier
once she went to the other side, into complete total
madness. I was thinking how young you looked,
how impossibly young, and trying to remember
myself young, my body, my voice, almost another
person, and I wanted to weep for all I had let
come and go so casually, lovers, cities, flowers,
and then I was thinking You little shit for the way
you stood outside my window with your superior air
as if I were a stupid old woman with a stupid old woman
beside her, stood shouting What were you thinking?
as if I were incapable of thought, as I nearly was,
exhausted as I'd become tending my mother,
whom I had just taken to the third doctor in so many
days, and you shouting your rhetorical question
then asking to see my license, your li-cense, slowly,
as if I would not understand the word, and the lover
who made me feel as if I never knew anything
appeared then, stepped right into your body saying What were you thinking? after I had told him, sobbed
to him, that I thought he was, I thought he was,
I thought we would—and then my mother began
to cry, as if she had stepped into my body, only years
before, or was it after, and suddenly I saw the whole
human drama writ plain, a phrase I felt I had never
understood until then, an October afternoon in Berkeley,
California, warm, warm, two vehicles stopped in
heavy traffic on campus, a woman deciding to make way
for a car trying to cross Gayley, act of random kindness
she thought might bring her luck then immediately—
right before impact—knew would be bad luck,
if it came, being so impure in its motive,
and then the unraveling of the beautiful afternoon
into anger and distress that would pass unnoticed
by most of the world, would soon be forgotten by those
witnessing the event, and eventually those experiencing it
while the sun went on lowering itself toward the bay
and ginkgo trees shook their gold leaves loose
until a coed on the way home from class, unaware
a car had backed into another car, unaware of traffic,
stopped to watch the shower of gingko, thought of Zeus
descending on the sleeping Danaë in a shower of gold,
and smiled over all her own lover would do
in the bright timeless stasis before traffic resumed.
Carpe Articulum Will Accept Free Contest Entries During the Month of June! We're looking for short fiction, essays, poetry, novellas, and photography. Register on our website (click the Registration tab at the top of our home page), then email your entries with your contact information and a cover sheet to editor-in-chief@carpearticulum.com. Please include code FREEJUNE1WW on the cover sheet. Submissions for all genres are being accepted now.
Carpe Articulum will award $10,000 this year! Winners to be published in our international, cross-genre, quarterly review, and receive 2 copies.
The new Screenwriting Competition has a limit of 20 pages and is for the best opening scene only. All other guidelines apply as do for short fiction. Entries may be for plays as well. Good luck to everyone!
Questions? Please email editor-in-chief@carpearticulum.com. Yes, we accept unsolicited submissions without a reading fee (but you can only receive publication, not a cash award). Congratulations to this quarter's Short Fiction winners: Harrison Solow, Jaina Sanga, Julian Hoffman, and Ruth Ann Dandrea. Register at the site now and receive one free issue.
Open City's 2010 RRofihe Trophy Short Story Contest Postmark Deadline: October 15
7th year! The RRofihe Trophy for an unpublished short story! Limit: 5,000 words. Winner receives: $500, trophy, and publication in Open City magazine. Judge: Rick Rofihe.
Guidelines:
Stories should be typed, double-spaced, on 8 1/2" x 11" paper with the author's name and contact information on the first page and name and story title on the upper right corner of the remaining pages
Limit one submission per author
Author must not have been previously published in Open City
Mail submissions to RRofihe, 270 Lafayette Street, Suite 1412, New York, NY 10012
Enclose a self-addressed stamped business envelope (SASE) to receive names of winner and honorable mentions
All manuscripts are non-returnable and will be recycled
Reading fee is $10. Check or money order payable to RRofihe
Rick Rofihe is the author of FATHER MUST, a collection of short stories published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. His fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Grand Street, Open City, Swink, Unsaid, and on epiphanyzine.com, slushpilemag.com and fictionaut.com. His nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times, The Village Voice, SPY, and The East Hampton Star, and on mrbellersneighborhood.com. A recipient of the Whiting Writers' Award, he has taught MFA writing at Columbia University. He currently teaches privately in New York City, and is an advisor to The Vilcek Foundation for their 2011 prizes in the field of literature. Rick is the editor of the new online literary journal, anderbo.com.
Please enjoy this excerpt from the 2009 winning story, "Mum", by Leslie Maslow of Brooklyn, New York:
This year, too, Roger kept a secret. He had always loved to sit on the carpet next to the sideboard in the dining room and admire silver pieces on the shelves. One day he noticed that a sugar bowl with four feet was missing. The tongs for the sugar cubes lay forgotten in the back of the cabinet. The next time he looked, the tongs and six silver napkin rings had vanished. He inspected the sideboard and could not find the little silver cup that bore his initials, RFS, and the date of his birth. He tiptoed up to his mother while she was watching television and asked about it.
It was then that Roger and his mother began their special pact.
"Mum's the word," she whispered, her breath on his face.
"Mum?" he asked.
"It means if anyone asks, you don't know anything," she said.
For the first time, she smiled at him the way she smiled at grown-ups.
"Oh, yeah," Roger said.
She tugged the zipper on his jacket.
"You know what you are?" his mother asked.
From her adoring eyes, he could see it was something good, something wonderful.
These free prose contests with deadlines between June 16 and July 31 are included as a bonus in The Best Free Poetry Contests.
Click the contest names below to go straight to their profiles, or login to The Best Free Poetry Contests here. After you login, please click the Find Free Contests link, then search by Prose Contest Type to find prose contests.
6/18:BBC National Short Story Prize +++ Entries must be received by this date; formerly June 15
Highly recommended free contest for UK citizens/residents with "a prior record of publication" offers 15,000 pounds for the best short story up to 8,000 words, plus other large prizes. Stories must either be unpublished or have been published during the current calendar year. See website for detailed eligibility rules.
6/18:Peter Blazey Fellowship ++ Entries must be received by this date; formerly July 16
Recommended free award sponsored by the Australian Centre at the University of Melbourne offers Australian writers an A$15,000 fellowship to further a work in progress in the nonfiction fields of autobiography, biography, or life writing. Applicant must have a publishing record. Submit CV, 1-page synopsis, and 5,000-word writing sample.
6/25, 8/6:Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize ++ Entries must be received by these dates; former deadlines were June 26 and August 7
Recommended free contest offers C$25,000 for novels or short story collections published in Canada during the calendar year by Canadian citizens or landed immigrants. Deadline varies depending on when your book was published: books published between October 1 and April 22 must be received by April 23; those published between April 23 and June 24 must be received by June 25; and those published between June 25 and September 30 must be received by August 6. Publishers should submit 5 copies of the book (or 3 bound galleys, to be followed by at least 2 copies of the book), press kit, entry form, and list of titles published by that publisher, to establish eligibility. See website for detailed requirements.
6/25, 8/6:Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize ++ Entries must be received by these dates; former deadlines were June 26 and August 7
Recommended free contest offers C$25,000 for nonfiction books published in Canada during the calendar year by Canadian citizens or landed immigrants. Deadline varies depending on when your book was published: books published between October 1 and April 22 must be received by April 23; those published between April 23 and June 24 must be received by June 25; and those published between June 25 and September 30 must be received by August 6. Publishers should submit 5 copies of the book (or 3 bound galleys, to be followed by at least 2 copies of the book), press kit, entry form, and list of titles published by that publisher, to establish eligibility. See website for detailed requirements. Formerly known as the Nereus Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize, changed name in 2009.
6/30:Drue Heinz Literature Prize +++
Highly recommended free contest for an unpublished book-length collection of short fiction (150-300 pages) includes $15,000 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press. Open to writers who have published a book-length collection of fiction or a minimum of three short stories or novellas in commercial magazines or literary journals of national distribution.
6/30:Eric Hoffer Award for Short Prose + Entries must be received by this date
Neutral free contest from Hopewell Publications offers $500 and anthology publication for unpublished short fiction or essays (both genres compete together) up to 10,000 words. Enter online only. No simultaneous submissions. Deadlines are quarterly, but there is only one annual prize. You can enter one story per quarter.
6/30:Goi Peace Foundation International Essay Contest for Young People ++ Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest offers top prize of 100,000 yen (about $1,000) for short essays by children and youth on themes of cross-cultural reconciliation. Prizes awarded in age categories under-14 and 15-25. See website for details on the annual theme and formatting rules. Entries may be written in English, Spanish, German, French or Japanese. Send by mail or email.
6/30:L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest +++
Highly recommended free contest for emerging writers of short science fiction, fantasy and horror offers quarterly prizes of $1,000 plus an annual $5,000 grand prize for one of the four winners. Send only one story per quarter, maximum 17,000 words. See website for eligibility rules. Entrants may not have professionally published a novel or short novel, or more than one novelette, or more than three short stories, in any medium.
6/30:The Nation Student Writing Contest ++ Entries must be received by this date; formerly June 15
Recommended free essay contest for US high school and college students offers two top prizes of $1,000 and publication in The Nation, a prominent left-wing political and cultural magazine. Send one essay, maximum 800 words, on the theme "How has your education been compromised by budget cuts and tuition hikes?" Enter by email only.
7/1:Richard J. Margolis Award ++
Recommended free contest offers a $5,000 stipend and a month-long residency at the Blue Mountain Center, a writers' and artists' colony in the Adirondacks in Blue Mountain Lake, New York, to a promising new journalist or essayist whose work combines warmth, humor, wisdom and concern with social justice. Send at least two nonfiction pieces (published or unpublished), up to 30 pages total, with a short biographical note including a description of your current and anticipated work.
7/15:Bard Fiction Prize +++ Entries must be received by this date
Highly recommended free contest offers $30,000 for US authors aged 39 and under who have published a book of fiction. Winner also receives one-semester appointment as writer-in-residence at Bard College. Send 3 copies of book, proposal for new project, and CV.
7/31:Harvill Secker Young Translators' Prize ++ Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest offers 1,000 pounds for translators aged 16-34 with no more than one full-length published book of translation. ("Book" includes full-length dramatic works.) The prize will focus on a different language each year. To tie in with Argentina's role as guest of honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the inaugural prize will center on Argentinian writer Matías Néspolo's short story "El hachazo". See website for rules and entry form.
7/31:Landfall Essay Competition ++ Entries must be received by this date
Recommended free contest for New Zealand citizens offers NZ$3,000 for the best essay on any topic, maximum 6,000 words. Sponsored by the literary journal Landfall. The purpose of the competition is "to encourage New Zealand writers to think aloud about New Zealand culture, and to revive and sustain the tradition of vivid, contentious and creative essay writing in this country." One entry per person. Entries must be received by 5 PM local time on the deadline date.
7/31:Platt Family Scholarship Prize Essay Contest ++
Recommended free contest for full-time US college students offers prizes up to $1,000 for essays, 1,500-5,000 words, on an annual theme relating to Abraham Lincoln. Enter by mail or email. The Lincoln Forum's mission is "to enhance the understanding and preserve the memory of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War".
tinywords Entries must be received by June 15
tinywords, a daily online magazine of haiku and micropoetry, seeks submissions on the theme of "summer". Entries should be 150 characters maximum. They are also accepting images (paintings, photos, etc.) as well as longer works (such as haibun) that are centered on very short poetry. Unpublished work strongly preferred. Maximum 5 entries per person. No simultaneous submissions. See website for online submission guidelines.
Manifold Entries must be received by August 15
Manifold, the venerable British literary journal formerly headed by the late Vera Rich, will continue under the editorship of Hilary Sheers. They are accepting general submissions for Manifold Issue #51 as well as contest submissions for poems in particular forms. Poems for general submissions should be 40 lines maximum. Translations accepted if accompanied by original text. No simultaneous submissions. Response normally within 8 weeks, competitions 12 weeks, after which time poems may be submitted elsewhere. Website still under construction; email hilsthepoet@yahoo.co.uk for guidelines.
Asian American Literary Review Entries must be received by September 1
The Asian American Literary Review seeks submissions of poetry and prose for its Spring 2011 issue. Submissions should be 6-9 pages of poetry, or a prose piece up to 5,000 words. This journal is meant to be a space for writers who consider the designation "Asian American" a fruitful starting point for artistic vision and community. In showcasing the work of established and emerging writers, the journal aims to incubate dialogues and, just as importantly, open those dialogues to regional, national, and international audiences of all constituencies. They select work that is, as Marianne Moore once put it, "an expression of our needs...[and] feeling, modified by the writer's moral and technical insights." Published biannually, AALR features fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, comic art, interviews, and book reviews.
Drunken Boat Entries must be received by September 15
Drunken Boat, a well-regarded online journal of art and literature, seeks poems, prose, and multimedia/interactive art on the theme of "/Slant/Sex/". Submit through their online submissions manager. Poetry submissions should be 1-3 poems, prose maximum 5,000 words. Please indicate the genre of your work in the comments field, in addition to anything else you'd like to tell them. Editors explain the theme as follows: "Decades after Women's Lib and Stonewall, in the time of queer theory, gurlesque and 'girls gone wild', there are still aspects of women and transgender people's sexuality that are taboo or discounted (the sexuality of older women and women with disabilities, for example, or a joyful transgender sexual self). We are looking for poems, prose, and multimedia/interactive art that address these topics. This is a call for bold, honest investigations of the sexual female/trans self that polite society has yet to fully embrace. We particularly encourage submissions from women of color, older women, queer women, women with disabilities, and transgender/two-spirit/gender nonconforming folks."
"Tales from the Velvet Chamber" Anthology Entries must be received by October 30
The Velvet Chamber, an online journal/blog edited by LA Slugocki, publishes revisioned, contemporary feminist fairy tales and myths, as well as brief essays and reviews. They are seeking stories up to 5,000 words for an anthology on the following themes: "Stories that radically revise stereotypes of 'bad women' in the Bible, in myth and in fairy-tales. Stories that aren't afraid to be literary, transgressive, dark, and sexy. Think: Lilith, Medea, the Wicked Stepmother, the Evil Witch, Pandora, Eve, crones, sibyls, fates, muses. Contemporary adaptations are fine. Mythical adapations equally welcome." Email story in MS Word attachment to talesfromthevelvetchamber@gmail.com. Subject line: "Submission". Documents should be double-spaced, 12-point font, Times New Roman. Paragraphs should be indented five spaces. Bio (necessary) and contact information in the upper right hand corner.
As my mother ended her ninetieth year,
on my bonsai appeared a bold blue jay
who regarded me with no trace of fear.
I knew him, he'd been her protégé.
On my bonsai appeared a bold blue jay.
Contrary to kind, he made no squawk.
I knew him, he'd been her protégé.
He came as an augur—not to mock.
Contrary to kind, he made no squawk,
the first of prophets to come by wing.
He came as an augur—not to mock,
an envoy of flocks who do not sing—
the first of prophets to come by wing.
Then ravens alit on the giant pine,
two envoys of flocks who do not sing.
They were too clearly a fatal sign.
Then ravens alit on the giant pine
next door, where Fran my friend declined.
They were too clearly a fatal sign
for her and for one more yet to find.
Next door where Fran my friend declined
they conferred darkly on a limb
for her and for one more yet to find
and fling beyond the world's bright rim.
They conferred darkly on a limb.
It was you they chose to take away
and fling beyond the world's bright rim—
ravens, successors to the jay.
It was you they chose to take away.
They left me with this conundrum:
Ravens, successors to the jay!
What rare bird was yet to come?
They left me with this conundrum.
I asked the rainbow-circled sun to say
what rare bird was yet to come?
A hawk on your cremation day!
I asked the rainbow-circled sun to say
the gist in the gyre of this braying raptor,
a hawk on your cremation day.
I welcomed him as your messenger.
The gist in the gyre of this braying raptor
remains a mystery not mine to pierce;
I welcomed him as your messenger.
Why he came when called, shrill and fierce
remains a mystery not mine to pierce.
Perhaps your totem Phoenix knows
why he came when called, shrill and fierce,
a bolt from where the hot sun glows.
Perhaps your totem Phoenix knows
you chose a card with its brazen guise,
a bolt from where the hot sun glows,
left words for your funeral to my surprise.
You chose a card with its brazen guise
to write a "reminder" to your self,
left words for your funeral to my surprise:
the credo that "flames can't destroy the Self."
To write a "reminder" to your self:
What prompted, years before your loss,
the credo that "flames can't destroy the Self"
but rather just "burn off our dross"?
Advertise to 30,000 Poets and Writers
Promote your contests, websites, events, and publications in this newsletter. Reach over 30,000 poets and writers for $80. Ads may contain up to 250 words, a headline, and a graphic image. Find out more and make your reservation here: http://www.winningwriters.com/advertisers.php
"We can tell by our data readings that Winning Writers is an economical and efficient way to advertise both the Anderbo Poetry Prize and The RRofihe Trophy/Open City Short Story Contest." Rick Rofihe, Publisher & Editor-In-Chief, anderbo
"...I'd like to share that our web site received a very good amount of clicks from your web site after we ran the ad. In fact, the clicks we received after Dec. 15 were comparable to the average number of clicks received per month during 2009 from our second highest referring web site for the whole year. We were very pleased, and that's why we want to advertise four times this year. Thanks again for the work that you do..." Steve Petty, New Millennium Writings
"Thanks again for the ad. Poems have been pouring in." Frances Flynn, Sidney Lanier Award
ProLiteracy supports adults and young people in the U.S. and internationally who are learning to read, write, and do basic math by training instructors, publishing instructional materials, and advocating for resources and public policies that support them.
This month, Critique Corner is pleased to present "No Salvage" by Barb McMakin.
If you would like a chance to be critiqued, please email your poem to critique@winningwriters.com.
Send the poem in the body of your email message (no attachments) and put "poetry critique" in the subject line. One submission per poet per month. Thanks!
No Salvage
by Barb McMakin
The first time I married
we lived in the woods,
a spot clear enough
for a sixty foot trailer.
At night, we heard
bobcats scream. Our lab,
Sonia, whimpered, took refuge
in a break in the underpinning.
My husband shot targets
from the back door. I tried once,
the recoil of the .357 magnum
pushing my arm past my ear
like a starting gun.
Later, ducking thrown dishes, I ran,
watched from the Home Stretch Inn
as a wrecker hauled the steel trap away,
the frame sprung in the middle,
both sides pulled apart.
Copyright 2010 by Barb McMakin
Critique by Tracy Koretsky
"If you don't know where you are, you don't know who you are," wrote that famous poet from Kentucky, the conservationist and contemporary transcendentalist, Wendell Berry. He was referring to the powerfully—even viscerally—expressive, if hard to define, quality that poets refer to as "a sense of place."
This month Critique Corner will look at a fine example of how a new Kentucky poet, Barb McMakin, has evoked that quality in "No Salvage", part of her just-released collection Digging Bones from Finishing Line Press.
"No Salvage" is a compact piece, fewer than a hundred words. From them, three images evoke a sense of place. Each earns its keep...
VISIT JENDI REITER'S BLOG
Visit Reiter's Block for poetry, cutting-edge Christianity, book notes and cultural insights. Subscribe free to get Jendi's latest posts as they happen. Go to the home page, see the Subscription box on the left.
Copyright 2001-2012, Winning Writers, Inc. Website and newsletter design by EyeArchitect.
Beyond fair use, no part of our newsletters or website may be reproduced without permission.
All rights reserved. Winning Writers, 351 Pleasant Street, PMB 222,
Northampton, MA 01060-3961. 866-WINWRIT.
